Humidor.



E. S. WOODS.

HUMIDOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1910.

' Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

2 BHEETS-SHEET 1.

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HUMIDOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1910.

1,05 9,693. Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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EDWIN S. WOODS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HUMID OR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1933.

Application mea "Tune '18, 1am. semi no. access.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN S. Wooos, a citizen of the'United States,-and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Humidors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thls specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in humidors for use with cigars, tobacco and the like, and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and economical device capable of ready and convenient handling and of easy attachment to any kind of container for cigars and the like, and which will maintain a surface of constant saturation and of pre-' determined extent.

As illustrated herein, the invention is shown as applied to a cigar box of a size for receiving a comparatively small number of cigars for private use.

Attempts, have been made heretofore to provide a device of this character for maintaining a moist atmosphere in a cigar box or cigar case, such devices usually including an absorbent pad which is saturated with water. The objection to such devices is that when first saturated they ofier' such a large surface for the evaporation of the water that too much moisture is absorbed by the air, and after the pad has become fpartially dried, too little moisture is given 0 so that it is absolutely impossible to even approximate a constant reservoir of moisture, to be absorbed by the air, which is essential to cigars, tobacco and the like, in order to keep them in proper condition.

My invention is intended to overcome these difiiculties and its various advantages will appear more fully as I proceed with my specification. I

In the drawings :-Figure 1 Is a perspective view of a cigar box provided with my improved humidor with the lid open. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the box with the lid in openposition. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the humidor with the lid shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4c is a partial vertical section through ,3 on the line thereof on an enlarged scale, showing one of the absorbent pads- Fig. 5 is a detail plan view on an enlarged scale of one of the cells which contain the pads. Fig. 6 is a detail plan view' showing one of the fastening devices for removablv locking the humidor to the lid. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the feet-of th'e'humidor engaged with the lug by which it is held to the lid.

A indicates the container, in this case, a. cigar box, and B, the hinged lid to which the hu'm'idor is attached. The box and lid are both preferably provided with inner and outer wallsinclosing a vacuum acket space a, t for insulating the box from the air surrounding it, so as to maintain, as nearly as may be, a constant temperature within the box. Said vacuum jacket may be formed in any convenient way, theldetails of construction of the box and lid being unimportant.

C is the humi-dor. It consists, in its preferred form, of a flat tank made or i'netal or other suitable material of dimensions approximating those of the lid of the box. Said tank is adapted to be filled through -a nipple e which is closed by screw-threaded cap 0 On the up er side of the tank, that is to say, that wall of the tank next to the lid and near its outer margin, are located-a plurality of absorbent pads D which are adapted to be moistened and their moisture maintained from the liquid contained in the tank, as will presently appear. The construction of said pads is as follows :A series of annular recesses D are formed in the top, wall of the tank and rising from the base of said recesses are centrally disposed rings 03 which inclosecells 01 Each cell is filled with absorbent-material (5 such as cotton. :E, Eare parallel, laterally separated wick openings formed at the bottom of thecell (Zflrthrough the wall of the humidor, and e is ,a wick made of "any suitable material which passes up through one of the openings E, across the bottom of the cell, and'down through the other opening E, its two ends hanging free withih the tank. The absorbent cotton (Z2 is inclosed by a fibrous cover F of suitable material, which has its edges drawn down over the ring (Z, and is confined in place on said ring by means of a string 7, an annular groove being formed in the outer surface of the ring to insure an efiicient attachment of the fibrous cover 1*. The annular walls of the ess the screw-threaded flange of a cap G which, when placed in position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, is adapted to-cover the absorbent pad and hermeticallyseal it. {Arranged alongside of 'the,pads one for each pa area series of threaded nipples g formed on the tank wall, which are adapted to receive and retain the caps G when they are not in use to cover the absorbent 1o P I v Each pad D. offers a constantly saturated surface of definite dimensions, so that the total extent of saturated pad surface may be regulated to suit conditions by exposing one or more of the pads.

The tank may be locked to the lid in any convenient manner. In the example illustrated the tank is provided at its four corners with angular straps forming feet :0 which rest against the box lid. and hold the tank with'its top surface away from said lid sothat the ads do not contacttherewith. The feet at tile rear of the tank engage within socketed lugs la secured to the cigar box lid. On its front edge near the middle of the tank is secured a projecting plate 70 which is adapted to be engaged by a button L-pivotally mounted on a post l which projects from the box lid. It is apparent,

80 that when the tank is in place with the'rear feet Kengaging within their respective lugs it and with the buttonL locked against the 7 plate is, the humidor will be securely locked to the lid. I

For convenience in fillin the tank, I re:- fer to rovid'e, in one wa plate ,so that the levelof'thewater therein may be observed. In filling the tank only "enough water is placed therein to reach to 40 a level below that of the pads, when the tank is'raised with the lid, as indicated in Fig. 2. It is apparent that when the lid is closed the water will cover the depending ends of the wicks e and that waterwill be 4 drawn up by capillary attraction through the. wicks into the absorbent pads, whence it will escape to the air by evaporation.

Care should be-taken in filling the tank not to fill it above the level indicated, as 59 otherwise the water would flow out through the wick openings when the lid is raised into open position. In addition, the lid should be provided with some abutment as, for example, in the hinge itself, as indicated at P in Fig. 2, which will prevent theusame from opening beyond a substantially upright position.

It is apparent from this description that. a surface of substantially constant saturation will be ofiered by each pad, and that, by regulating the number of pads used, by means of the caps, the extent of said saturated surface may be accurately predetermme The humidor is preferably located in. the

thereof, a g ass.

upper part of the container in order to produce a circulation of air, since the moisture "laden air gravitates downwardly, and is re"- placed by the drier lighter air which rises from the bottom of the container.

My improved humidor is shown and described above as applied to the lid in such manner that when the lid is closed, the pads will be on the top side of the tank; but this arrangement, while preferred, is not essential. The tank may be inverted so that the pads are located on the lower wall thereof. A few dro s mayfall from the pads at first, but therea ter only sufiicient water will pass from the tank to eep the pads moist, since the pads willobstruct the free passa e of air-to the tank, and only permit a suflicient quantity to pass through them to take the place of the water absorbed by the pads. In this case the wicks are not essential.

I claim as vmy invention 1. A humidor embracing a tank adapted to contain water, a wick opening formed above the level of said water a wick in said tank. projecting through said wick opening, a cell located above said wick opening, an absorbent pad located in said cell, and a fibrous cover adapted to confine said absorbent pad within said cell with means for securing said fibrous cover in position.

2. A humidor embracing a tank adapted to containwater, a plurality of wick openings formed in said tank above the level of said water, a plurality of wicks in said tank projecting through said'wick openings and presenting extended surfaces outside of said tank adapted to give off moisture, and means for capping one or more 'of said extended surfaces of-said wick to prevent them from giving off moisture. v

3. A humidor embracing a tank, a plurality of absorbent pads secured on the outer surface of the top wall of'said tank, wick openings formed through said top wall and located below each of said pads, wicks projecting through said wick openings and adapted to supply moisture to said pads, and means for sealing one or more of said pads to regulate the amount of moisture given off by the humidor. I

4. A humidor embracing a tank provided with means for filling the same, a plurality of cells located near one marginof said tank on the top wall thereof, absorbent pads located in said cells, wick openings formed in the bottoms of said cells through the wall of said tank, and wicks located in said open ings and dependin into said tank, said wicks being adapte to supply moisture to said pads.

5. humidor embracing a tank provided with .neans for filling the same, a plurality of cells located near one margin of said tank on the top wall thereof, absorbent pads 10- cated in said cells, wick openings formed in the bottoms of said cells communicating with said tank, wicks located in said openings and depending into said tank,'adapted to supply moisture to said pads, and means for sealing one or more of said cells.

6. A humidor embracing a tank provided with means for filling the same, a plurality of cells located on'the top wall of said tank near .one margin thereof, absorbent pads located in said cells, wick openings formed at the bottoms of said cells, wicks located in said wick vopenings depending into said tank and adapted to supply moisture to said pads, a fibrous cover secured above the top of said cells to confine said absorbent pads, and removable caps adapted to cover said cells to seal said pads from the outer air.

7 Afhumidor embracing a tank provided with means for filling the same, a plurality of cells located near one margin of said tank on the top wall thereof, absorbent pads located in said cells, wick openings formed in. the bottoms of said cells through the wall of said tank, and wicks located in said openings and depending into said tank, said wicks being adapted to supply moistureto said pads, removable caps adapted to cover said cells, and aplurality of cap retaining devices adapted to hold said caps when not in use.

8. In combination with a container provided with a hinged lid, a humidor secured to said lid and adapted to depend therefrom within the container when said lid is in closed position, said humidor embracing a tank adapted to contain water and-bemg provided with an opening or openings located above the level of the water in said tank both when said tank is in an upright position and when in a horizontal position.

9. The combination with a container provided with a hinged lid, said lid being adapted to be opened into a vertical position and being provided with means to prevent its opening substantially beyond said vertical positlon, a humidor secured to the under surface of said lid with its upper surface located below the under surface of said lid, said humidor embracing a tank provided with an opening or openings near that mar 'gin which is farthest from the hinged edge of said lid.

. 10. The combination with a container provided with a hinged lid, said lid being adapted to be opened into a vertical position and being provided with means to prevent its opening substantially beyond said vertical position, a humidor secured to the under surface of said lid withits upper surface located below the under surface of said lid, said humidor embracing a tank provided with a plurality of cells near that margin which is farthest from the hinged edge of said lid, absorbent pads located in said cells, wick openings formed in the bottoms of said cells through the wall of said tank, and wicks located in said openings and depending into said tank, said wicks being adapted to supply moisture to said pads. Y

11. A humidor embracing a'tank adapted to contain water, a plurality of openings in the wall of said tank above the level of said water, said openings being of limlted extent, a plurality of absorbent ads of limited area each covering one of sai openings, said absorbent pads being adapted'to receive moisture through said openings and means for sealing one or more-of said openings to regulate the amount of moisture given off by said humidor.

In testimony, that I, claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix my si ature in the presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of June A. D. 1910.

EDWIN S. WOODS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE R. WILKINS, T. H. ALmns. 

